Jean Renoir
France/India/US 1951
99 min., 35mm

An unqualified masterpiece, Renoir’s lyrical film is about an English family living on the Ganges in Bengal, India. The story focuses on Harriet, a 16-year-old who falls in love with a wounded American army captain. But the officer is more interested in two other young women: the half-Indian daughter of his cousin and Harriet’s pretty best friend. A memorable story about the merging of cultures, The River was Renoir’s first film in color. This new 35mm print beautifully restores the lush cinematography by the director’s nephew, Claude Renoir.